Nervous Doggy...HELP

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi, I have a husky mix (maybe mixed with lab) that is 6 years old. We discovered a long time ago that she out of the blue would start acting very nervous and she'd start to pant and tremble like a dog normally does during a thunderstorm. I was worried, took her to the vet, they did some blood work, etc and found nothing.
I then realized it was my cel phones beep that told me that I had a message triggered her nervousness. I got a new phone, end of problem. So i thought.
Then we bought a George Forman grill which has a timer. When you push the on button it too has a high pitch beep which resulted in the nervousness again. So every time we go to use the grill we'd take her on a walk or whatever so she doesnt get that way (which by the way will last for a good half hour after the fact). So i thought i solved the problem by taking her out of the house. But now if I even go to boil water, cook anything, not even use the grill she gets into her nervous fit! Today Thanksgiving she didnt stop panting, shaking and following me all over until we were done cooking and there were no high pitch anything to trigger it. Im just assuming she now assosiates cooking with a high pitch noise. But what the heck to do I do? I dont want her to be that way, it breaks my heart, but we cant take her out every time we go to make toast!
im desperate to know what to do! Any advice?

[imported_Kat]

Thats an interesting problem indeed. I would do some desensitisation work with her. Put her on her lead and teach her to sit and keep her attention on you . Stand outside the kitchen and use a treat for bait so that you become very interesting. Get your husband or someone else to close the door of the kitchen so that the noise of the beep will be dulled. When she has her attention on you throughout the beep praise her and treat her. Its important however not to praise her if she starts getting silly and anxious as this will only reinforce the fear.

When she has kept her attention on you progress to opening the kitchen door and further after that to having her sit beside the timer. Something has obviously happened in the past where she now associates a beep with something bad about to happen. Its your task to turn this around so that when she hears a beep, something good will happen like getting praised with a treat.

Good luck :wink:

[imported_Debbie]

:o I babysit a 4yr. old like that !!!
He's afraid of the vacuum, the hair dryer, the tea pot whistle, etc......
He runs shrieking into the next room.....like he's being murdered.....
I think desensitisation is the way to go.........like Kat said. :wink:

[DogPaddle]

I would suggest a product like rescue remedy to calm her in the beginning phase of desensitisation as she seems quite easily distressed. Start very slow but have a very upbeat attitude yourself. Good luck.

[courtnek]

did something in particular happen to bring on this fear? did the cell phone fall on her, or did she get yelled at for something else after hearing the ding? If so, you will need to work that into your desesitizing as well. you may never know what set her off, of course. it could have been something completely innocent that you would never figure would frighten a dog. But desensitizing is your best ber.Make every occurance of that sound something pleasant. You could even record it to start, so she doesnt need to be near the kitchen at first. eventually work your way into the kitchen, and set off ol' George armed with a treat to give her when she shows no fear. Do not either praise or correct if she shows fear. Ignore it and try again later. When she stops showing fear, then praise and treat.

on the other side of that coin, my lab mix tried to dig up the floor when she was a puppy. dug through carpet and had left claw marks in the wood. she was frantic about something. Turned out to be my sons
watch, which was in the basement, and would beep incessantly for 30 seconds at 2:00every day. It made her crazy, but since she was locked out of the basement she tried to dig up the floor. Putting the watch in a drawer in his room resolved the issue.